My Home made slip-on muzzle brake

I didn't like the slip-on muzzle brakes I have been seeing, and I didn't want to thread my barrel. I made this at work, and haven't tried it yet. Other then the obvious (get some shorter set-screws) does anyone have any opinions on it? Should I change or modify anything? The side ports look like they are coming off at a 90 degree angle, but are actually angled backwards very slightly. Hope the pics do it justice.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k84/kawi14ninjaman/030.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k84/kawi14ninjaman/033.jpg

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dawico

March 2, 2011, 10:07 PM

The screws are going to mar up your barrel pretty bad, but they have to be tight. Let us know how it works.

Moose1995

March 2, 2011, 10:25 PM

The screws don't contact the barrel. There is a sleeve under the collar that is attached to the main body of the muzzle brake. The collar slips over and the set screws push the sleeve into the barrel so that it won't leave any marks on the barrel at all.

I predict quite a dirt kickup from under the barrel. If you make another one, just vent it up and to the sides, leave the bottom of each vent area solid on the bottom. Should work great. Looks awesome... Nice work man. A+ in metal shop class.

Prion

March 3, 2011, 08:49 AM

Looks cool, could you make it like the AI one with a pinch bolt set-up. http://www.accuracyinternational.com/ Might look cleaner.

If you do decide to thread it Tornado Technologies does great work and you can send in your entire upper so you don't need to remove the barrel. They just threaded a barrel for me and it is impeccable.

brian923

March 3, 2011, 05:03 PM

Looks good, I'd shootit and see whay you like, and what you don't like, and make small ajustments as you go. Maybe you'll end up with a marketable product..

Moose1995

March 3, 2011, 08:55 PM

Ghostwriter, I didn't put any ports on the bottom for just that reason. I am hoping that the side ports reduce the recoil for the most part, while the two considerably smaller top ports help keep down muzzle jump. Not that I really plan on ever shooting the gun from anywhere other then a bench, but you never know...

Moose1995

March 3, 2011, 08:58 PM

Prion, I like that one in the link you posted. I was thinking about doing it that way but thought it might be too bulky. I plan on getting it to the range soon to test it. I will probably try to video it too so I can watch it in slow motion and see how everything looks as well. And I know it doesn't look very clean with all those set screws sticking out of it. I am in the process of shortening up some screws and hopefully it won't look as bad.

THE DARK KNIGHT

March 3, 2011, 09:42 PM

Very cool design and clever idea. Am interested to see how well it works.

mc223

March 3, 2011, 10:34 PM

I messed with making brakes for a while.Its fun and challenging. One thing I learned was that you need a bit of an expansion chamber right out of the muzzle. This relieves some of the pressure and allows the gasses to escape like you want them to. Enjoy and I bet the one you made is loud.

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Moose1995

March 4, 2011, 07:47 PM

Yep, just waiting for the weather to warm a little to go to the range. I may get rid of the collar with the set screws and do the pinch bolts like Prion mentioned. If I do, however, I will probably put at least 3 of them underneath to make sure its nice and tight.

sappnasty

March 4, 2011, 09:10 PM

Very, very impressive. I like it...the fact that you made it yourself for your own rifle.....well that my friend is true love! lol

Adam123

March 4, 2011, 10:20 PM

I'll take one and give you some invaluable feedback after shooting with it. I'll PM you my home address. Thanks in advance for sending it so quickly.

TonyAngel

March 5, 2011, 12:31 AM

There's going to be a lot of force pulling that brake away from the muzzle while it is under fire. My advise would be to either thread the barrel, or, at the least, dimple the barrel for the set screws. The set screws compressing a sleeve is not going to hold that brake on over time. How much time is the question. Could be one round, could be 100, but it's gonna come off. I just hope that when it does, it just flies off, instead of something happening that causes the opening in the brake to come out of alignment with the muzzle.

That brake looks like you're capable of some good machine work, but a brake needs more than just openings to direct gas. You're gonna need an expansion chamber and it will work better if there are more surface aren for the accelerating gasses to act upon as they leave the muzzle, effectively pulling the rifle forward some.

I'm just sharing what I learned when I tried to make my own brakes. In the end, it was just more cost effective to just buy one. Still, very nice work.

wlemay

March 5, 2011, 12:37 AM

I like it; very slick and original looking, my only suggestion would be to angle the holes back more. Let us know how it works.

Moose1995

March 5, 2011, 12:49 AM

Tony, I hear what you're saying. I have thought about it and hope that my design works well. The sleeve has T shaped slots on it, and the set screws sit on top of the areas that have the most give on the sleeve. I am not sure if you know what I mean. But as an added security, I will also be putting red loctite in between the sleeve and the barrel, and a small dab on each of the set screws. Also, when I bored out the collar with the set screws, I used a high feed rate on the lathe, so it would leave a somewhat rougher finish for the loctite to grab on to. When I do fire it, I will mark the barrel with a marker and check it after each shot to see if I can detect any movement. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

FlyinBryan

March 5, 2011, 12:55 AM

There's going to be a lot of force pulling that brake away from the muzzle while it is under fire. My advise would be to either thread the barrel, or, at the least, dimple the barrel for the set screws. The set screws compressing a sleeve is not going to hold that brake on over time.

i would agree. i would definitely capture that thing with more than clamping pressure.

ive seen them come off (even pins sheared) and in that case the only part of it that was ever found was a short piece of the sheared 3/16th hardened steel pin, laying right below the muzzle. (and it was a factory installed brake on a colt 6700c match target rifle) we never found the brake.

anything designed to capture and divert muzzle pressure should be threaded onto the barrel (just my opinion)

mc223

March 5, 2011, 01:48 AM

Yeah its like 60000 psi and moving about 5 times as fast as the bullet.

TonyAngel

March 5, 2011, 02:23 AM

Moose, don't use loctite. Although it has a pretty high sheer strength, heat turns it into powder. You don't really need anything with a high sheer strength, but you do need something that can take the heat. Unfortunately, i can't remember what it's called.

What material did you use? If you used something that might expand more/faster than the barrel steel you'll need to check/tighten the set screws after it gets hot, since you're relying on what is essentially a friction fit.

I really do hope it works. Good luck.

Moose1995

March 5, 2011, 05:38 PM

Its made of 316L stainless steel. I wanted it to have a good deal of corrosion resistance. I am not terribly worried about it getting too hot, due to the kind of shooting I do. (No rapid fire, usually just take my time to get my best groups... keeping rifle clean between groups). I'll find out how it works very soon.

TonyAngel

March 5, 2011, 08:39 PM

Be sure to let us know how it works out. If it doesn't work the way you were hoping, you might try just popping that last port (nearest the muzzle) out to a larger diameter. Don't worry about angling it. Just pop it out perpendicular to the bore.

I may have missed it, but caliber is that rifle?

Moose1995

March 6, 2011, 12:13 AM

Its a DPMS LR308.

ghostwriter

March 6, 2011, 01:40 AM

Actually I understand there are NO ports directly pointed down but the whole side opening is open to the ground as it is to the sky. Shooting off the the bi-pod on a tarp will be ok but any bare ground will be "dirty" This will result in a fan like air shock wave which you will find will kick up the dirt pretty good. Just a thought to watch out for.

Moose1995

April 11, 2011, 01:02 AM

I finally got to go out and break the rifle in and test out the muzzle brake. I put a couple of boxes of factory ammo through it first, and then moved on to my handloads. The handloads were noticeably more powerful then the factory loads. I am very happy to report that the muzzle brake worked great, had absolutely no movement, and the accuracy was spot on with all of my loads. The only problem I noticed was that the slots I cut into the sleeve that slides over the barrel allowed some of the gas to escape backward onto the outside of the barrel. Only negative effect was that the barrel got pretty dirty around where the gas was escaping. Trying to figure out a fix without making a whole new brake. At least I know after a couple hundred rounds that my basic design is pretty sound.

rocinante

April 11, 2011, 06:48 AM

Love it. I put a slip on brake on my saiga and didn't get the screws tight enough. I was kind of impressed when it flew about 30 feet downrange. I know is considered tacky but I put some jb weld on the inside of the brake and tightened the screws down real good. Just hit the brake with a propane torch to make the jb weld turn loose.

WardenWolf

April 11, 2011, 07:08 AM

That's very cool, Moose1995. I like it a LOT. It looks great, and seems to be a very good design. I wouldn't worry about the gas escaping like that. If you're REALLY concerned you could put something like teflon in that area.

Moose1995

April 12, 2011, 10:33 PM

I used red loctite on the inside of the sleeve that slips over the barrel. I also marked the postion of the brake on the barrel with a sharpie marker before firing the first shot to check for movement. It never budged.

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